27. Forbidden War
Victor barely finished his sentence when—
BOOM.
A wave of beastly energy hit the corridor like thunder.
Marcelline didn't even flinch.
Victor definitely did.
Victor:
"Oh no."
Amara's voice echoed down the hall, low and lethal:
"WHY. ARE. YOU. TOUCHING. MY. SISTER."
Amara strode forward, long white hair flowing like a storm, golden beast eyes glowing in murder-mode. Even in her casual college clothes, she radiated the aura of a Supreme Beast Queen.
Victor raised his hands like a criminal caught in floodlights.
Victor:
"I wasn't touching her—she was touching me!"
Marcelline:
"Don't phrase it like that."
Amara bared her fangs slightly.
Amara:
"I can smell your flirt from the entrance.
Try brushing against her again, blood-sausage,
and I'll personally tear your spine out and use it as a jump rope."
Victor winced.
Victor:
"See, darling Marcelline?
Your family loves me."
Marcelline deadpanned.
Marcelline:
"No, she wants to kill you."
Amara crossed her arms.
Amara:
"Slowly. Painfully. Artistically."
Victor:
"You're both adorable.
Violent, but adorable."
Despite the bickering, something softened.
Marcelline's cold glare eased—just a little.
Marcelline:
"What are you even doing here, Victor? Really?"
Victor dropped the playful smirk for a moment.
A rare, sincere expression flickered.
Victor:
"You felt it too, didn't you?
That shift. That surge.
Something dark is moving…
and it's connected to all of us."
Amara's beast aura dimmed slightly, worry slipping into her eyes.
Amara:
"Is Marcelline safe?"
Victor chuckled, but with genuine warmth.
Victor:
"Safer than all of us.
She could kill me with a yawn."
Marcelline rolled her eyes, but her voice was quieter.
Marcelline:
"Still. Why warn me first?"
Victor looked straight at her, deadly honest for once.
Victor:
"…Because when something threatens the world,
I check on the person I trust to survive it."
Marcelline blinked.
Amara's lips curved into a knowing smirk.
Amara:
"Aww. The vampire has a heart."
Victor:
"No. I just don't want my favorite chaos angel dying before I finally convince her to go on a date."
Marcelline shoved him lightly.
Marcelline:
"Shut up."
Victor:
"That's practically a confession."
Amara:
"Victor, continue flirting and I'll dropkick you."
Victor:
"See? Family."
Marcelline and Amara (in unison):
"No."
Victor's playful expression slowly faded.
The air around him darkened.
His voice dropped into something cold, ancient, and frightening.
Victor:
"…The energy I sensed.
It's not new.
It's old.
Very old."
Marcelline straightened, brows furrowing.
Marcelline:
"How old?"
Victor's eyes turned blood-red, glowing with centuries of memory.
Victor:
"Two thousand years."
Amara froze.
Her breath hitched—not in fear, but in recognition.
Victor continued, quieter:
Victor:
"The war.
The ancient war that almost tore existence apart."
Marcelline's heartbeat stopped for a second.
Amara's beast aura flickered violently, memories she never wanted to revisit clawing at her face.
Victor swallowed hard—rare for someone who feared nothing.
Victor:
"Fairies. Angels. Demons. Beasts.
Every realm. Every species."
Amara's voice cracked.
Amara:
"That war was forbidden to even speak of…"
Victor nodded.
Victor:
"Because it wasn't a war between races.
It was a war against something none of us could destroy."
Marcelline tried to keep her composure, but her voice trembled.
Marcelline:
"What are you saying, Victor?"
Victor stepped back, eyes fixed on the two sisters.
Victor:
"…I think the thing we fought back then—
the thing we lost so many to—
is waking up again."
Silence.
Heavy.
Cold.
Suffocating.
Amara paled, her hands shaking.
Victor's usual bravado vanished, replaced with dread.
Marcelline stood perfectly still—
face composed…
but her eyes trembling slightly.
Victor watched her closely.
Victor:
"Marcelline…
this darkness…
it reacted when you grabbed me.
Like it recognized you."
Marcelline's world tilted.
Amara stepped forward, instantly protective.
Amara:
"Why would it react to her?"
Victor whispered:
Victor:
"…Because Marcelline wasn't just connected to that war."
He looked at her with awe and fear.
Victor:
"She might've been the reason it ended."
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